


Any Life

by bitsori



Category: PRISTIN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Fluff, Night Picnics, Students Abroad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-21 04:31:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17036705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitsori/pseuds/bitsori
Summary: Yaebin prepares a graduation surprise for Minkyung one cozy evening; AU.





	Any Life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [microphonechecker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/microphonechecker/gifts).



> [ 1 ] The preferred prompts/tropes I got were: _domestic fluff/picnic dates/sharing a bed but because THEY WANT TO/late night talks/stargazing/flirting/summer vacation/summer camp au/college aus_ , and I guess I tried to use as much of those as I can. I'm not sure if this is the thing my recipient was thinking about but I hope I managed to make it all fit together in an enjoyable way! Happy holidays, microphonechecker! ♥
> 
> [ 2 ] And just because it needs to be said: I miss PRISTIN ):

 

 

※

 

 

 

  
  


“Wait, why? Where are we going?” Minkyung asks, sounding worried, but also just a bit breathless.

It’s the middle of the night, and she’d just been about to start getting ready for bed when Yaebin had come barging in through her front door, demanding that Minkyung get dressed quickly. Her first thought was brief regret at giving Yaebin the spare key to her apartment, but that had quickly been taken over by confusion when Yaebin repeatedly kept gesturing for her to hurry up. Resigned to her friend’s antics, Minkyung had thrown on a pair of pants, and grabbed a light cardigan to put over her shirt before she allowed her tiny blonde friend to drag her out of her little apartment unit completely.

“Where are we going?” She asks again, even as her fingers intertwine with Yaebin’s. “And don’t say it’s a surprise— you know how I feel about those.”

“Surprises are great!” Yaebin argues with laugh as she impatiently pulls Minkyung along.

Minkyung wants to pry more, but she’s known Yaebin for a good three - almost _four_ \- years now, and she knows that when the younger gets into this kind of mood, there’s no way she’s getting anything out of her. She follows her friend out to the corridor, only to be surprised when Yaebin pulls her along _up_ the staircase instead of down. Minkyung lives on a third floor unit in a four storey building, so she's understandably confused, especially since she isn't particularly friendly with her fourth floor neighbors.

“We’re going up?” She confirms, unable to hide the surprise in her tone.

Yaebin flashes her a mischievous grin, but she doesn’t actually answer the question. Instead, she wraps both arms around one of Minkyung’s, almost as if to cling to the older. It doesn't make climbing stairs easier, but Minkyung doesn't do anything to separate from her.

“We’re celebrating,” Yaebin announces, her gaze fixed ahead, and a sly smile drawn on her lips.

“Celebrating what?” Minkyung turns her head to look down at Yaebin curiously.

They reach the fourth floor, and Yaebin keeps on going, leading the way up the smaller stairwell that Minkyung knows would take them to the rooftop.

“Oh?” She finally allows Yaebin to unravel herself from her once they reach the top step, and Yaebin proceeds to push open the door to the rooftop. “Are we even allowed to be here?” Minkyung asks, chuckling. Even so, she doesn't wait for an answer before she's stepping outside, right after Yaebin.

“We’re celebrating,” Yaebin repeats with a proud grin; there's something always so cocksure about the way Yaebin smiles that Minkyung finds so endearing - _attractive,_ even.

“Celebrating what?” She asks again, and when she's led to the middle area of the rooftop, the setup that’s waiting for them immediately catches her attention. “Is that—,” she laughs and shakes her head, “—is that the beach blanket you stole from me and never returned?”

It’s not exactly an elaborate setting - the beach towel in question is spread out, with a couple of throw pillows stacked on top of each other, that Minkyung recognizes from the condominium unit Yaebin lives at with her parents, just a couple of buildings down the street; there’s also a cake box that’s from their mutually favored store, along with a plastic bag that has the local convenience store’s label drawn on it - knowing Yaebin, she gathers it likely has an assortment of snacks bought hastily just that morning. It doesn’t appear to be much, really, but nevertheless Minkyung is amused and touched. Yaebin is usually more meticulous than this, so Minkyung knows that this very likely did not involve much planning, and is probably something that her friend put together at the very last minute.

“I didn’t _steal_ it,” Yaebin points out, letting Minkyung’s hand go and then kicking off her shoes before stepping onto the blanket and lowering herself down to make herself comfortable among the pillows. Minkyung lifts an eyebrow - the last time she’s seen the blanket was summer during the previous year, when she had taken a trip to a local beach, south of the Philippines, together with Yaebin and a few other friends. “I just _borrowed_ it, and I’m returning it after tonight,” she declares, grinning up at Minkyung. “And we’re celebrating your graduation.”

Yaebin is the type who has traveled a lot with her parents since she was a little girl, and Minkyung has always thought that it was because of this that she tends to act more mature than her actual age - and yet, when she’s with Minkyung, her more youthful side always comes out. Minkyung wagers that her own readiness to play the unnie when she’s with Yaebin just further spurs on Yaebin’s choice of attitude with her.

“I graduated a week ago,” Minkyung points out, toeing her own pair of flip-flops off so she can step onto the blanket and lower herself down with Yaebin. “And we already celebrated.” With her own parents unable to fly over from South Korea to attend her graduation ceremony, Minkyung had chosen to forego it completely, instead just choosing to claim her diploma from her adviser, and then treating her friends out to eat all you can Korean BBQ at her favorite restaurant.

“This time it’s just for you and me,” Yaebin declares, shifting in her position and patting the spot beside her - a gesture for Minkyung to move closer. “Congratulations, unnie,” she adds, leaning over to fit a graduation cap - Lord knows where she even got it, but years of friendship has taught Minkyung that Yaebin has her ways - on top of Minkyung’s head.

  
  
  


Minkyung remembers the first time she met Yaebin: it was a Tuesday afternoon, and it was her first day at the English tutoring center she had enrolled in for twice a week sessions.

She’d always considered herself pretty proficient in the language, but ever since she’d chosen to attend university in the Philippines, Minkyung has learned that reading comprehension is way different from having to regularly verbally communicate in the language. She’s thankful that the university she chose to attend has a sizeable amount of other Koreans enrolled in it, making socializing a bit easier, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to better herself in English - for class recitation if nothing else.

“Hello,” Yaebin had approached her first, never mind that Minkyung towered over her by a good couple of inches. “My name is Yaebin,” she introduces herself in straight English, a confident grin plastered across her face. “Yaebin Kang.”

In the ten minutes that followed, Minkyung quickly learned that Yaebin is a year younger than her and isn’t even in university yet; she’d been living in the Philippines for all of three years at the thing because of her father’s business, and this was why she was very sure of her English - not that they don’t eventually switch back to their native language soon after, because somehow, despite only having just met, Yaebin had taken an immediate liking to her, and was already eager to regale her with personal stories and make plans to meet again soon so they can hang out.

  
  
  


“So, I tried making something—” Yaebin giggles nervously, opening her bag and pulling out a plastic container.

“Do I even want to know?” Minkyung teases, laughing as she plays with the tassel of her cap.

“Unnie!” Yaebin laughs, slapping her arm before proceeding to take the lid off the container, and showing her the contents. Minkyung really doesn’t mean to, but a trickle of laughter escapes her anyway as she catches a glimpse of the deformed looking cookies that she’s presented with.

“They’re edible,” Yaebin declares, taking one out and making a show of biting a huge chunk off it. Minkyung watches with amusement - she doesn’t actually doubt that they’re edible; in fact, she gathers they might even actually _taste_ good since Yaebin is quite good with her hands, and Yaebin has always been good at following step by step instructions such as recipes. Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that the cookies are in funny looking, mismatched shapes.

“I guess what’s important is that you tried,” Minkyung playfully surmises as she reaches for a piece herself, mimicking Yaebin as she dramatically bites off it; she’s right, it doesn’t taste bad at all, but it doesn’t stop her from wrinkling her nose just to tease her younger friend.

“You _like_ it,” Yaebin declares anyway, finishing her piece off and digging her elbow into Minkyung’s side.

“Hmm,” Minkyung simply hums in response, pretending her mouth is too full for her to respond properly, but the closed smile that’s curved on her lips is pretty telling anyway.

She reaches for the cake box - the one that she’s been eyeing ever since she Yaebin had brought her up to the rood. She opens it, only to end up laughing once again.

“It’s lopsided cake,” she observes with amusement, and once again it earns her a hit on the arm.

“It was hard getting all these things up here okay,” Yaebin ascertains. “I don’t know why you chose to live in a building that only has stairs,” she adds, rolling her eyes for effect.

“The building has four floors,” Minkyung points out. “Living on the third floor just means I get that much exercise everyday.”

“Whatever,” Yaebin waves her hand dismissively to show that she’d rather not focus on that detail for now. “I might have maybe attempted a shortcut by carrying too many things up at once… so maybe the cake box _almost_ leaned a bit too much to the side because of that—”

Minkyung just laughs, not really minding the explanation because to her it doesn’t really matter. Instead, she takes a swipe at the cake, before wiping icing on Yaebin’s cheek.

“Unnie!” The younger whines, rubbing her shirt sleeve against her cheek, before trying retaliate by doing the same to Minkyung, except the latter is too quick to lean away. “No fair,” Yaebin whines, giving up with her short reach, and simply licking the chocolate cream off the tips of her fingers herself.

“Thank you,” Minkyung tells her suddenly, as she watches Yaebin squeeze out hand sanitizing gel onto her palm before rubbing her hands together.

“What for?”

“Preparing all of this, I guess,” Minkyung elaborates, waving her hand around to indicate the entire poorly planned, but sweet surprise. “You didn’t have to,” she continues with a chuckle. “Especially not in such a rushed manner.” She knows how much Yaebin obsesses over little details, so executing a hastily planned event like this must have really gotten under her skin - at the same time, Minkyung understands that this also implies that it must have really meant a lot to Yaebin to do something for her.

The other girl shrugs. “I really wanted to do something - just you and me,” she explains, her tone softer, more wistful. “You’re flying back to South Korea in five days, and I’m going to miss you.”

Minkyung’s expression visibly softens because there it is; now that she’s graduated, the plan is to go back and live with her parents, while trying to look for work. That’s _always_ been the plan, but for some reason it’s something that she and Yaebin had rarely talked about.

“You can go back home after you graduate too,” Minkyung murmurs, casually reaching for Yaebin’s hand so she can thread their fingers together. “It’d be a nice plan, don’t you think?”

  
  
  


“What time is it?”

Minkyung is pretty sure that it’s been at least two hours because most of the food is gone, and the two of them are just laying side by side on the beach blanket, hands clasped together as they looked up at the night sky.

“Almost midnight,” Yaebin murmurs as she shifts and turns to her side so that she’s facing Minkyung. “I have a confession.”

“Hmm?” Minkyung turns to glance at Yaebin. “What  is it?”

“Another reason why I really wanted to do this tonight is that I read there was supposed to be a meteor shower,” she whispers, almost shyly - which is very uncharacteristic of Yaebin.

Confused, Minkyung looks up at the sky again; she vaguely remembers briefly confusing an airplane for a shooting star around half an hour earlier, but apart from that, the clear sky has so far been quite devoid of anything resembling meteors.

“...yeah, so apparently I was reading an article from last year,” Yaebin grumbles, pressing her face against Minkyung’s arm out of obvious embarrassment.

 _“Oh.”_ Minkyung bites her bottom lip, trying her best not to laugh, but soon her shoulders are shaking as she slowly begins to crack up. “You’re usually much more detail-oriented than that,” she wheezes, finally turning on her side as well so that they’re face to face.

“I had other more important things on my mind, obviously.”

“Like what?”

Yaebin grows silent for several seconds; Minkyung is forced to study her features and the way the moonlight is illuminating the contours of her face. She feels warmth spreading through her, and right before Yaebin speaks again, Minkyung feels her own breath hitching as if in anticipation for something.

“Alternate lives,” Yaebin answers finally, and Minkyung exhales quietly - that was quite unexpected.

“Alternate lives?” Minkyung leans away slightly as if that will somehow help her understand better.

“Alternate lives,” Yaebin confirms. “Or like— other worlds. Other universes?”

Minkyung laughs and shakes her head. “What sci-fi shows have you been watching recently?”

Yaebin groans, and Minkyung flinches, half expecting the smaller female to hit her again. Instead, Yaebin actually snakes her arm around Minkyung’s midsection, and consequently snuggles closer.

“I was just thinking— what if we met back home in Seoul instead,” Yaebin murmurs. “What if we both went to the same high school?”

“I still would have been a year older than you,” Minkyung points out. “We wouldn’t have been in the same class.”

“I think I would have still found a way to introduce myself to you,” Yaebin muses. “You would have been the prettiest girl in school, and that alone would have made me want to befriend you.”

“You’re admitting to being that shallow?” Minkyung laughs, teasing.

“I’m admitting to thinking you’re the prettiest girl I know,” Yaebin shoots back; it’s not the first time she has complimented Minkyung for her physical appearance, but this time, for some reason, Minkyung feels a blush rising up her cheeks. She’s glad that it’s probably not that obvious under the dim lighting of the night sky, even if it _is_ a full moon.

“Or what if—” Yaebin isn’t done with her overactive imagination apparently, so Minkyung tries to ignore the strange heat she’s feeling in favor of focusing on her friend’s ramblings. “What if in another life we were idols— what if we were in a girl group. You’d be the visual, unnie.”

Minkyung has to laugh now. “Are my looks the only thing you think that’s worth anything?”

“Of course not,” Yaebin answers, her tone matter-of-fact. “You’re a lot of things, but if we were idols, then obviously your visuals would be front and center. I think I’d like to be the main rapper.”

“Not the main vocalist?” Minkyung clarifies; whenever the two of them go to noraebang with their friends, Yaebin is always belting out Adele songs.

“Nah, I’d like to be the rapper - just to try something different. I think I’d be good at it.”

“I think you’d be good at it too,” Minkyung agrees, chuckling with amusement.

“I’d do all my fanservice with you,” Yaebin continues, her eyes sparkling mischievously. “That’s a thing, right? Putting on an act for the fans - but it won’t be an act, not for you and me.”

“What does _that_ mean?”

“It means we’d still be really close in this other life,” Yaebin sighs, absentmindedly nuzzling against Minkyung’s shoulder. “It means we’d still find each other no matter what kind of life we’re living.”

“Okay,” Minkyung muses, giggling as she inadvertently inhales the scent of Yaebin’s shampoo. “But imagine this - a universe where we’re pirates.”

“In the Caribbean?” Yaebin perks up, pulling away so she can look up and meet Minkyung’s gaze. The latter shakes her head and laughs,

“No, sailing down the Grand Line.”

The smaller of the two girls wrinkles her nose, confused at first until she realises where the reference is from. “This is a One Piece thing, isn’t it?”

Minkyung laughs. “This is why you should get started on that.”

“It’s a funnily drawn anime with over 800 episodes - who has the time for that?!”

“I do,” Minkyung readily retorts. “And maybe with me back in Seoul, you’ll have a bit more free time this coming year, too.”

“First of all, I have other friends,” Yaebin huffs, petulantly poking at Minkyung’s side. “Second, it’s going to be _my_ last year at university - why would I choose to watch One Piece during what little free time I’d probably have?!”

Minkyung laughs, and interjects in a hushed, whispered tone, _“It’s a wonderful stress reliever—”_

“Says you,” Yaebin rolls her eyes, before suddenly letting out a somewhat dejected sounding sigh. “Anyway, thirdly - stop reminding me that you aren’t going to be here next year.”

“Maybe I’ll visit,” Minkyung offers.

“It won’t be the same.”

“No it won’t,” Minkyung agrees, and she quietly welcomes Yaebin in her arms as the smaller female huffily chooses to settle in her hold.

  
  
  


The thing is this: Minkyung isn’t an idiot. She’s always been smart, and not just book smart either - she’s always been good at reading people, and she’s known for a while now that Yaebin is in love with her.

Yaebin’s never really said it out loud, but Minkyung feels it in all the little things that the younger does for her. She feels it in the way that Yaebin always knows what Minkyung’s regular coffee order is at Starbucks, and in the way Yaebin has remembered to have her mom help make seaweed soup for Minkyung’s birthday in the last four years that they’ve known each other. She even feels it in the way that Yaebin always keeps her in the loop with every single thing that goes on within their little friend group at university - which is funny because Minkyung doesn’t really care to be constantly updated. However, she's very well aware that Yaebin is the busybody type to want to know _everything_ so the fact that she never forgets to share with Minkyung is testament to how much she values Minkyung.

Sometimes Minkyung wonders if she should make the first move - she doesn’t dislike Yaebin, after all. In fact, she’s pretty sure that over the last few years, Yaebin has slowly grown to be the most important person in her life. She doesn’t know what it is though, every time she considers telling the younger how _she_ feels, the words get stuck in her throat - but then Yaebin smiles at her like _she_ hangs stars in the skies, and Minkyung figures that everything is fine as they are.

  
  
  


“Yaebin,” Minkyung whispers, nudging the younger gently. Both of them have dozed off, apparently, and she can’t even be sure how long because with Yaebin using her arm as a pillow, Minkyung is having a hard time angling her wrist correctly so she can catch a glimpse of the time on her watch. “Yaebin,” she repeats, only to have the smaller girl curl up even more against her side.

“It’s cold,” Yaebin mumbles.

“It’s really late,” Minkyung answers with a sigh, nudging her again because her arm has gone numb from their position. “It’s also getting cold.”

“You’re warm, though,” Yaebin tells her, sighing as she sleepily moves away before slowly sitting up.

“I do actually feel kind of warm,” Minkyung finds herself saying as she joins the other in sitting up. “Hey, Yaebin,” she calls out softly, not really thinking too much about it as she naturally reaches out to tuck a stray lock of Yaebin’s hair behind her ear.

“You do,” the other agrees, when she ends up pressing her cheek against Minkyung’s palm instead.

“I’m going to miss you too, you know,” Minkyung suddenly says, and as the words leave her tongue, it dawns on her that this is actually the first time she’s expressing this sentiment out loud. From the way Yaebin’s eyes widen in shock, she can tell that this little fact hasn’t been lost on Yaebin either.

“Unnie,” Yaebin almost chokes on the one word, while a wide smile forms on her lips.

She looks like she has more to say, but before she can get any of them out, Minkyung chooses to throw all thought and caution to the wind by leaning in, closer and closer until her lips settle on Yaebin’s.

It’s weird at first - she can hear Yaebin’s breath hitch at the contact. She also realises how dry and chapped her lips feel thanks to the coldness of pre-dawn hours, and she has to back off briefly so she can lick and moisten them. In that moment, Yaebin actually _giggles_ , which starts Minkyung off, and soon they’re both _laughing_ in between kisses.

“What was that for?” Yaebin asks, practically breathless, while her lips continue to hover close to Minkyung’s.

“I just really wanted to do it?” Minkyung offers with a sheepish laugh. She tilts her head, choosing to plant a quick kiss on the tip of Yaebin’s nose, but the latter doesn’t seem to be satisfied with the answer _or_  the succeeding action because in response, she grabs Minkyung’s face with both her hands, steadying her as she starts another kiss - this time slower, but also sweeter, more tender, _deeper._

Minkyung gives in easily, relaxing as her own arms find their way around Yaebin’s smaller body frame. Their lips part against each other, and they fit perfectly; Yaebin tastes nice too, Minkyung thinks, a lot like the marshmallows they’d been snacking on just a couple of hours earlier. Their mouths move together, tongues poking and teasing and she wouldn’t really have liked to stop any time soon, except they both eventually pull apart for air at the exact same moment.

“You know,” Yaebin starts, her voice low, breathy. “We could have been doing that all this time, over the last few years.”

“Probably,” Minkyung agrees, laughing. Her face feels really warm, and she reaches for one of Yaebin’s hands, so she can place it on her cheek - she wants the younger to _feel_ her effect. “But neither of us really did anything about it until now.”

“I mean I tried—” Yaebin tries to argue, but Minkyung cuts her off with a quick peck on the lips.

“Not hard enough, but it’s useless playing the blame game at this point,” she says, and then they both turn quiet. She knows she could have done something more as well - until now she isn't sure why she hasn't. Maybe, she rationalizes inwardly, she'd been scared of losing her strongest support system in this foreign country. Maybe now she's brave enough because she has nothing to lose - it's silly, and she knows she lost them both precious time because of this, but she doesn't want to dwell on it. “I’ll visit,” Minkyung murmurs eventually, after several seconds of silence.

“I already told my parents I’m going back home to Korea after I graduate,” Yaebin says, and this time it’s Minkyung’s turn to give her a look of surprise. They’ve never really talked about this properly, even though she’s hinted once or twice that Yaebin should do exactly that. “I’m an adult anyway,” Yaebin continues, “And they understand. My Dad is a little skeptical, but my Mom is backing me up. She says it’s time I learn to be independent.”

“They don’t realise you only want to move back home to be with your girlfriend,” Minkyung teases.

“Shut up,” Yaebin laughs. “First of all, I _do_ think it’s time I start living on my own. Second - when did I get a girlfriend, huh?”

“Since just now?” Minkyung wagers, grinning right before she gives Yaebin another quick kiss on the lips.

The smaller female whines. “No fair,” she grumbles. “You know I can’t resist you like that.”

“So that’s a yes, right?” Minkyung laughs.

“A yes to what?! Yah, Kim Minkyung, at least confess properly!”

This time, she reaches for both of Yaebin’s hands; it’s hard to talk when she keeps giggling, but eventually she manages enough to collect enough calm by inhaling deeply. “Kang Yaebin, I love you,” she begins, her voice all low and velvety, and wrapped up in warm sincerity. “So will you be my girlfriend?”

Yaebin squeaks, and Minkyung knows she’s got her. “Fine,” Yaebin whispers. _“Fine,”_ she repeats, only to suddenly start laughing as she tackles Minkyung back down on the blanket, showering her face with excited kisses.

“I’ve always been yours anyway,” Yaebin declares with a sigh. “And I’m pretty sure that’s the case in every other alternate universe where we exist together.”

  
  


_fin._


End file.
